MIT Corporation Chaiman announces retirement plans

By Andrew L. Fish

David S. Saxon '41 was only the second of six Chairmen of the MIT
Corporation not to have served as President of MIT. In fact, Saxon spent
most of his life in the University of California system, where he served as
President for eight years.

Saxon said he felt "reasonably good" about his tenure as chairman of the
MIT Corporation, which will have been seven years long when he steps down
in 1990. "I do feel that I brought to MIT and the Corporation a new
perspective," Saxon said. Coming from another institution gave him a
different viewpoint that fostered changes "in a small way," he said.

One regret Saxon had was that his role in MIT's Campaign for the Future
"has been more effective at the conceptual level" than at raising actual
funds. He said that this was a matter of personality and that little could
be done about it.

Saxon noted that the chairman was conceived as a position for a past
president -- not someone who was outside the MIT administration. Therefore,
President Paul E. Gray '54 was a natural choice for the post.

Saxon and Gray have "worked as a team" for the past five years and have
has a "harmonious, comfortable relationship," Saxon said. "I can't think of
a single discordant note over this time."

After stepping down as chairman, Saxon plans to spend time on both
coasts, working as a volunteer for MIT and re-establishing ties with the
University of California system. "These are two absolutely wonderful
institutions," Saxon said. The opportunity to serve them both is "an
attractive prospect."